Device for grinding bottles and stoppers



Nov. 24, 1925 1,562,587

w. H. RANAGAN DEVICE FOR GRINDING BOTTLES AND STOFPERS Filed Aug. 8,192A 11v VLNTOR mLL/AM H RANAG M A; A TTO NE)" Patented Nov. 24, 1925STATE,

VTILLIAM H. BANAG'AN, OF VINELAND, NFFW JERSEY.

DEVICE FOR GRINDING- BOTTLES AND SGZOTEPERS.

Application filed August 8, 19%. Serial No. 7303M.

T 0 all whom it may 0012mm:

Be it known that I, lVILLIAM H. BANA- GAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and. a resident of Vineland, county of (lumberland, State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices forGrinding Bottles and Stoppers, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to apparatus for grinding articles of glass, suchas the necks and stoppers of bottles, and more particu larly to grindingtools rotating against the surface to be ground in machines such as thatdescribed in my co-pending application Serial No. 672,645.

In grinding necks and stoppers of bottles, the grinding tool is rotatedat a high speed, these speeds attaining a rate of 2000 to 2500revolutions per minute. When the tool is rotating at these high speedsand strikes an irregular, rough, or uneven spot in the neck or stopper,the bottle or stopper is broken and the pieces are propelled out of themachine with a high velocity and with great danger of injury to theworkers.

An object of the present invention is to enable the grinding tool orapparatus to readily adjust itself to rough or uneven places that may beencountered, and consequently, to enable the grinding surfaces to bepushed together or extended apart to prevent breaking the article beingground.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device havingcomplementary grinding surfaces each of which may by ready adjustment ofthe device be used for grinding either bottle necks or stoppers asdesired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tool or device whichmay be readily adjusted for necks or stoppers of different sizes ordimensions.

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises theapparatus and devices described and set forth in the followingspecification and claims.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a' side view, partly in section of a portion of a grindingmachine and a tool embodying a preferred form of the invention, the toolin this instance being for grinding the neck of a bottle,

Fig. 2 is a side view of the tool shown in Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a grinding plate for the tools of thedevice showing the manner of attaching this grinding plate when used forgrinding a bottle neck as in Figs. 1 and 2, and

Fig. l is a view similar to that of Fig. l, the tool being, in thisinstance, for grinding a stopper,

Fig. 5 is a side view of the tool shown in Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the grinding plate of Fig. 3 showing themanner of attaching or mounting the plate when used for grinding bottlestoppers as in Figs. 4 and 5. a

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the accompanying drawings,the tool is illustrated as employed in the machine described in myco-pending application Serial No. 672,645, mentioned above, portionsonly of this machine being shown and being identified with the samenumerals as in the above mentioned application in order to make theidentification of these parts in the machine immediately apparent. Inthis machine, a bottle 10 is supported in a suitable support orcarriervl2 in which it is rigidly held and lifted upwardly towards agrinding tool 46. The tool at is held and rotated axially to the neck ofthe bottle by means of a spindle 48 journaled in a vertical supportingbearing 50 on a support 52 and is driven by means of a gear 54; rigidlymounted on or keyed, to the up per end of the shaft and driven from amain driving gear 60. Abrasive 61 is fed to the grinding surface of thetool from a cup or reservoir 7 6 having in 1ts bottom a hole or opening78 through which the tool extends and through which a small stream ofabrasive flows to the grinding tool. The rate of flow of abrasive may becontrolled by means of a gate 80 by which the size of the opening may beregulated.

In my present invention, the grinding surfaces are formed in pairs andare resiliently.

end as at 85 and 86, to provide surfaces on which the resilient grindingsupports may be mounted. On the faces 85 and 86 a pair of leaves 87 and88 of spring metal are mounted and secured by means of bolts 89 andextend downwardly in spaced relation to the neck of the bottle. Thelower ends of the leaves 87 and 88 are shaped as at 90 and 91 to fit orconform to the shape of the article being ground, the surface lying in adownwardly tapering, conical, curvature or forming a portion of a conesurface when bottle necks are to be ground.

A pair of grinding plates 92 and 93 of the same conical curvature orshape as the throat of the bottle neck are mounted on the outer surfacesof the end portions 90 and 91 and secured thereto at their upper ends bymeans of tongues 94rwhich fit through and are clinched in openings 95 inthe leaves and at their lower ends by means of tongues 96 which areclinched through notches 97 in the lower ends of the leaves, thepositions of the tongue being shown in I Fi 3. These ton ues are made ofmaterial of sufficient flexibility to bend in either di rection so thatthey form securing means when the plates are mounted either on theirinner or their outer surfaces and thus enable these grinding plates toserve for grinding either the necks or the stoppers of the bottles.

The arrangement of the tool for grinding stoppers is similar to that forgrinding necks except that the ends of the leaves 87 and 88 are flaredoutwardly at their lower ends and the grinding plates 92 and 93 are ininverted position relative to that which they take in grinding necks, toconform to the shape of the leaves 87 and 88 and to the shape of thestopper being ground. In grinding a stop per, 11 1, the stopper is heldand supported in inverted position in a holder 116 having a slot orsocket into which the top of the stopper may be inserted, and the holderis then mounted in the carrier 12. The lower ends of the leaves 87 and88 are curved as at 118 and 119 to flare downwardly and thus fit thecontour of the stopper and thegrinding surface plates 92 and 93 aresecured to the inner faces of the leaves in a position inverted fromthat when grinding necks, the tongue 94 being clinched in a notch 120 inthe lower end of the leaf and the tongue 96'being clinched through anopening 12l in the leaf, the position of the plates and tongues beingindicated in ,Fig. (5.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the leaves 87 and 88 may be made longer toprovide greater resiliency and the movement of the leaves controlled tosome extent by means of a screw 122 and a nut 123 which enable theleaves to spread but limit their inward movement to definite stop.

In grinding a stopper or bottle neck using the above tool, if thesurface of the stopper or neck is not perfectly true, or if it has anybulging or flattened portions or other irregularities, the tool will notcatch on such portions and break the article but the grinding surfaceswill yield inwardly or outwardly with no tendency to burst or break thearticle and moreover tending to grind the article to a true surface. Thegrinding plates are such, also, that plates of a single, simple shapemay be used for grinding either the necks or the stoppers thus providingplates of the cheapest construction and enabling the tool to be usedindefinitely,

As changes of construction could be made within the scope of myinvention it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpretedas illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described the invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A tool for grinding articles of the type described which comprises, aholding stem, spring leaves mounted in spaced relation, one on each sideof said stem, grinding plates, attaching means on said grinding platesto hold the said grinding plates to the free ends of said leaves, eachleaf having an opening in its body portion, and a notch in its free endpositioned to receive and hold the attaching means provided on saidgrinding plates.

2. A grinding plate for a tool of the type described which comprises, asheet of material of a curvature corresponding to a portion of a cone,and a pair of tongues, one at its upper edge and one at its lower edgeadapted to be bent to either sideiof said plate.

3. A. pair of grinding plates for a tool of the type described whichcomprises, a pair of sheets forming a frustro-conical surface andadapted to be mounted respectively on their inner or their outersurfaces and attaching tongues for securing said plates to a supportingsurface.

WILLIAM H. RANAGAN.

